A woman survived an accident on I-285 South in DeKalb County last week in spite of being trapped inside her car beneath a tractor-trailer. The accident occurred around 3:30 PM on Tuesday near the exit to Ponce de Leon Avenue when the driver of a dump truck was attempting to slow down for traffic but was unable to stop in time. That driver ran into a semi-truck, which subsequently rear-ended a small car. Ultimately, the semi came to rest with the car and driver trapped beneath the vehicle, an often-deadly phenomenon known as an underride.
DeKalb County firefighters were able to rescue the woman from underneath the semi and she was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries. The wreck resulted in a 10-mile backup on the Perimeter, with the Interstate shut down for about three hours.
Large trucks have several safety hazards due to their massive size. One of those hazards is an increased distance required for the vehicle to come to a safe stop. No vehicle is able to stop instantaneously. Instead, it travels an amount of distance before the brakes are able to pull the weight of the vehicle to a stop. Commercial trucks, such as dump trucks or tractor-trailers require 20-40 percent longer distance to come to a safe stop than the average passenger car.
Additionally, commercial trucks are built to carry large loads. They are both long and tall vehicles, and features a higher ground clearance, which is responsible for underride crashes. Efforts have been made to adopt stronger requirements regarding the provision of guards around all four sides of the vehicle to prevent this type of accident.
Were you injured in a truck accident caused by someone else’s careless or reckless actions? If so, contact Cambre & Associates LLC for a free consultation to learn more about the process of seeking compensation for your injuries.